All Hearts Come Home For Christmas
by Marie Chambers
Summary: "Well, I was sort of under the impression that you didn't like me very much." Ten/Rose au
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A little late for Christmas, but this just came to me. Part 2 will be posted either later tonight or tomorrow morning. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Part 1<strong>

Carefully, Rose applied the glittery mascara to her eyelashes. She pulled back to inspect her work, taking in the warm, pink sweater wrapped around her body and her hair falling in soft, blond curls around pointed ears. She smiled at herself, smoothing out the sweater before fixing a pair of reindeer ears on her head.

The workshop was already in full swing when she exited her room. Elves were scurrying and bumping into each other, carrying either boxes filled to the brim with Christmas lights, toys, or brightly wrapped presents. She watched for a moment as lights, wreaths, and sprigs of holly were strung and placed strategically around the room to create a dazzling display of Christmas cheer. Brightly lit trees came to life with decorative ornaments, bows were tied expertly around banisters, and sparkly, paper snowflakes were hung along the top of the wall. Not one inch of the place was spared the onslaught and Rose smiled brightly as she stepped into the hustle and bustle.

She slotted right into the chaos, holding her finger down here in order for a bow to be tied and steadying a ladder there so that lights could be strung. The excited chatter and joyful atmosphere was easy to get lost in and soon Rose was laughing and beaming, her cheeks glowing in happiness.

There was a clunking sound off to her right that proved enough to distract her and she startled slightly from where she was hanging an ornament on the massive tree. She turned, peering through the crowd in order to make out wild brown attached to a tall, lanky frame bent over some strange looking machine.

"Not again," she said, shaking her head. Just at the moment, the Doctor's head poked up and his eyes locked onto hers from across the room. Rose looked around desperately for an escape, but he was already waving her over.

She cringed slightly, but nevertheless started pushing her way through the crowd towards him.

"Doctor," she greeted when she reached him. "What's...this you got here?"

He beamed up at her as if she were the only person in the room. "I'm glad you asked, Rose!"

He banged the thing with a mallet and Rose winced, taking a careful step back, in case it caught fire. Would certainly not be the first time that had happened.

"This," he continued, tweaking knob and buttons on the machine, "is going to enlarge a snowflake, a real snowflake, mind you, to twenty times it's size! Imagine it, Rose. We can hang up real snowflakes all around the room."

"What about, you know, melting?"

"That's what this is for!" the Doctor exclaimed, sticking a hand deep in his pocket and pulling out a canister. "One spray of this and there will be no melting! Here look, I've already tested."

Rose gasped as he shoved a clump of ice cold snow into her mitten-less hands. "'S cold," she protested, pushing it back to him.

"'Course it is!" he crowed, taking it back from her as if it were a treasured child. "It's snow."

"I...I know that, Doctor!" She pulled her sweater down over her red palms. "I meant it's too cold to be holding without gloves!"

"Oh," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry."

She waved him off and his face fell a bit.

"Well, are you going to show me this or what?" The sooner this was over, the better.

"Yes, of course! Right, here goes nothing then!" The Doctor grinned at her manically before taking the frozen icy snow and siphoning it into a slot in the machine. As soon as the snow entered, the machine immediately began shaking and rattling. Rose took an instinctive step back.

"Don't worry," the Doctor said. "It's...supposed to do that?"

Rose promptly took another step back. "You don't sound so-"

The machine made another large banging sound, smoke starting to pour out.

"-sure" Rose finished at the exact moment that the machine began spewing shards of frozen ice from the top, angled just high enough that it ricocheted off the walls, tearing through the various decorations and lights that hung around the room.

Chaos ensued as the machine continued spinning and flinging ice, everyone fighting to move and duck out of the way of the deadly pellets.

She could hear the Doctor banging away at the machine, trying to get it under control to no avail. Rose inched her way over, ducking to keep out of the path of the permanently frozen ice. When she reached the edge of the machine, she took off her shoe and promptly jammed it into the small opening at the top, preventing the release of the icy shots.

The machine clunked loudly as ever in response, the trapped ice ricocheting around inside until finally with one last wheeze, it died out with a puff of smoke. Everything was deadly silent for a moment.

Then the clamor broke out full force.

"What the gingerbread was that?"

"The Doctor strikes again!"

"Oh no, the decorations are ruined. Now what will-"

Rose's eyes turned to look around her at the destruction. Broken ornaments, fallen trees, swinging lights. It was all a right mess.

When she turned to give the Doctor a piece of her mind, he wouldn't even meet her gaze. His eyes downcast and obvious disappointment and guilt weighing down his frame.

"Rose, I-"

"Don't," she said softly. "I really don't think there's anything more to say."

Turning on her heel. Rose went to go help begin clearing up the mess with everyone else, leaving a dejected Doctor behind.

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><p>It took hours to sort through the chaos. But they worked tirelessly to rebuild the workshop so that it would be ready for the annual celebratory party that would be held tonight. It was always held the night before Christmas Eve and everyone was determined not to have to reschedule.<p>

Rose had been cutting out (_completely safe_) paper snowflakes when she spied her friend Clara reaching up on the tips of her toes to rehang a wreath. Rose quickly set down her work to go and help her.

"Thank you, Rose," she said, as Rose steadied the cumbersome decoration for her.

"No trouble at all."

When they finally had the heavy thing in place they grinned at one other in triumph. But Rose's eyes widened when she noticed Clara's cheek.

"Clara! Are you alright?" Rose moved closer so she could get a good look at the tiny slice mark that marred her skin.

The younger brunette waved her off immediately. "Oh don't worry I'm fine," she said cheerily. "Just a wayward piece of ice grazed me when, you know..." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, shrugging.

Rose saw red. "Oh I could kill him, I could," she said, seething. "All this hard work to ruins and-and just look at you! Bleeding because he had to go try and show off-"

"Rose! Really I'm fine," she said, holding up her hands. "No harm done. And look we've almost got all the decorations back in place."

Clara smiled brightly. Rose kicked at an ice chunk she saw resting by her feet.

"Okay then. Go on and let it out."

"Why is he so _immature_?" she burst out and then after that she couldn't stop. It all poured out of her in heated syllables and passionate phrases. True to her word, Clara listened, but Rose saw her trying to hide smiles behind her hand as she spoke.

"Clara," she whined. The petite woman just laughed at her.

"Sorry Rose. I've just never really bought into your whole," Clara waved her fingers around, "perpetual annoyance towards him. I happen to think that you fancy him. Just a bit. No one get this worked up over one person unless they feel _something_ towards them."

Rose spluttered. "I feel something for him all right. Anger and never-ending frustration!"

"You're awfully defensive," she crowed.

Rose scowled. "I do not fancy him," she whispered hotly. "He's always getting in the way and causing trouble." She gestured around the room. "I mean look at what happened here. He's trouble, Clara. How could you even think that something was going on there?"

Clara shrugged. "Maybe because he looks at you like you hung the stars. The boy is smitten."

"He is not," she protested weakly, but even as she said it she was thinking back to the completely dejected look he had sent her after the incident. Rose didn't think he could have looked so sad if she had kicked his favorite puppy.

"Is so. You know he's been going on about asking you to the Christmas party tonight? Hasn't shut up about it for weeks really."

Rose felt her mouth go dry at this revelation. "He- _what_?"

"Although, at this rate I reckon you'll scare him off before he gets the nerve," Clara said with a small smirk. "There's bets going around, in fact."

Rose's face turned red, from embarrassment or anger she wasn't sure. "Bets!"

"Yup. Don't ruin this for me, Rose. I have five quid that he'll do it this year. He seemed awfully determined last I talked with him."

Rose stared at her. "_This_ year. What does that mean?"

"Well," Clara said, twirling a piece of hair. "Just that the poor thing has been trying to get your attention for years now."

"No. That's ridiculous. There's no way."

Clara raised her eyebrow. "Well, what else do you think he's been doing all this time? All those mad ideas he comes up with are to _impress_you, Rose. I thought today was proof enough of that, I mean he called you over and everything."

"You're making all this up," she said, promptly ignoring they way her mind was flashing back to all the times the Doctor had sent her looks across the room, all the times his face had looked so put out when she'd rolled her eyes after one his plans had gone awry.

"I'll prove it," Clara countered, waving over Amy Pond, who flicked her ginger locks behind her head as she approached.

"What's up?"

"Just tell me Amy, why do you think the Doctor made that mad contraption that backfired on us today?"

Amy's eyes darted between the two of them, her hands finding her hips. "Who knows why the Doctor does anything that he does."

Rose turned and smirked at Clara. "Ha!"

"But," the red-head continued, grinning. "If I had to take I guess I imagine it was his very romantic lead in towards asking Rose here to attend the party with him tonight. Too bad it ended so disastrously. Still, five more hours to go, huh? I could get my ten quid, yet!"

Rose gaped as she watched the two woman exchange a high five.

"You're in on this too!"

Amy shrugged. "What can I say? You could cut the sexual tension with a knife." She made a little slashing motion for emphasis and Rose blanched.

At seeing Rose's obvious distress, Clara coughed. "Well, thank you Amy for your help. Should probably be getting back to work," she said ushering the other woman off.

Amy willingly obliged, but at the last moment turned back around to call out, "Oh and if you could maybe say yes Rose that would make me an extra-"

"Okay bye now!" Clara interrupted loudly, dragging Rose away before the blonde passed out on her.

"Rose, Rose are you alright?"

"Oh Clara, what am I supposed to do?" Rose moaned, her head finding her hands.

"Well, you could always just, you know, say yes?" her friend supplied helpfully. Rose let out a drawn out groan.

"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic!" Clara said sharply and Rose jolted in surprise at the tone. "C'mon now, Rose. You should give the poor guy a chance! You could do a lot worse than the Doctor."

Rose took in a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. "I-I don't know." She'd spent so much time hating him, after all, that the thought of going on a date with him seemed unthinkable. Still Clara was looking at her with her hands on her hips, and despite her small size Rose knew that the other woman could be absolutely frightening when she wanted to be. "I'll think about it."

"Good. Now come here and give me a hug."

Rose laughed and held out her arms and Clara hugged her tightly before pulling back with a mischievous smile.

"And just imagine it if you took all that energy you waste in being annoyed with him all the time and turned it towards something _else_-"

"_Clara_!"

She grinned. "Just think about it, Rose."

Rose was very much determined not to think about it...at all.

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><p>She was thinking about it. As much as she tried not to, her traitorous brain was reexamining every encounter between them, every word taking on new life at the revelation that the Doctor had been trying to woo her all this time. It seemed rather silly of her not to notice it now that it was staring her right in the face. Still, she marveled over the fact that everyone seemed to be in <em>support<em> of something happening between the two of them. For some reason, they could all see some kind of potential, some _spark_ between them the she couldn't. Rose shook her head at this. The notion was rather ridiculous to her since she could hardly stand to even be in the same room with him.

Still she couldn't stop obsessing over what they could possibly see that she was missing. And for some reason it sent her heart beating in her chest just thinking about it. Nervousness and perhaps just a touch of excitement bubbling up inside of her.

Rose kneaded the dough in frustration as she tried to banish the strange feelings away. There was no use obsessing over this, especially when she had so many cookies to bake before tonight. Focusing, Rose pushed all thoughts of the Doctor aside.

Outside, the snow swirled in the wind, icy clumps falling in a dazzling display as the low sunlight of the afternoon reflected off them. From the window perched in the kitchen where she worked, Rose could see a few elves now, piling up present after present on the sleek, red sleigh. She managed a smile when she saw the work momentarily pause for a brief snowball fight, elves running around and chasing one another with clumps of frozen snow, laughing merrily with rosy red cheeks and bright smiles. A few of the reindeer who had been using their massive antlers to help load the presents whinnied in protest as a few of the wayward snowballs hit them.

With one last glance Rose turned back to focus on the cookies in the oven, their aroma filling the room with the sweet smell of melting chocolate. She breathed in deeply, letting the mixture of peppermint and eggnog and all the other sweet treats that were being prepared fill her nose. She closed her eyes, the magical atmosphere washing over her. Her mind finally quiet from thoughts of the Doctor, she let herself slump against the counter and watch the snow fall. She was only broken from her reverie when the oven made a small ding.

Donning her oven mitts, Rose pulled out the warm chocolate cookies. They were perfect.

"Rose!"

The gleeful exclamation startled her and the baking sheet slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor. Rose felt a sigh building up as she saw the freshly baked and warm cookies scatter along the ground.

When she turned to see the very person she was trying her very best not to think about, wearing a sheepish expression, she couldn't help but sigh again.

Bending down, Rose began gathering up the crumpled, sad remains of an hour's work.

"Oh sorry, let me-"

"No, really," she said, waving him off, even as he stepped closer. "I've-"

"Nonsense, it was my - _Oh_ sorry Rose. I'm so sorry." The Doctor held his hands out in front of him while Rose rubbed at the rapidly growing bump on her head, formed by the way he'd just collided with her in his ever so valiant attempt to help her. She couldn't quite hide her scowl, her previously joyful mood quickly slipping away again.

"Can I help you with something, Doctor?" she asked in an exasperated voice as she slowly stood. Her hands found her hips and the Doctor's eyes darted down to the dip in her curve-hugging sweater before finding her eyes again.

"I, umm, well-"

"Because I have a lot of cookies to bake before tonight and I'd really like to get back to work."

"I could help!" he blurted out.

Rose winced and the Doctor's face fell, fringe falling into his eyes as he ducked his head.

"Don't you have some tinkering to do?" she asked, almost desperately. Her thoughts were already jumbled and confusing enough without him actually being in the room with her. "Christmas is tomorrow after all. I thought for sure you lot would be working to the last minute filling all those orders. And things are already behind after what happened this morning."

The Doctor flinched.

"Right about that, I wanted to apologize-"

"It's alright, Doctor," she interrupted quickly, surprising even herself with her sincerity. She thought back to Clara's words and how maybe she'd been just the tiniest bit harsh with him this morning. Perhaps, if nothing else, she could work on being just a bit more amiable with him. That certainly wouldn't hurt anything. Taking in a breath, Rose continued, "It was...an accident after all."

The Doctor looked up at her, his face a mixture of hopeful surprise. "Yeah?"

"Yes," she assured him and he beamed at her. She pretended that it didn't send butterflies racing in her stomach because that would certainly be ridiculous since she still found him to be a nuisance...for the most part.

"So," she said after a moment of silence. "Donna really isn't working you to the bone?"

"No, umm, you know. Fast worker, me. Donna said I should come and help with the baking." He rubbed the back of his neck, a definite tell of his. For a moment Rose pondered how she knew that before shaking it off.

Squinting her eyes at his red cheeks, Rose found herself smirking a little.

"Did you blow something up again, Doctor? Twice in one morning?"

"Pshh, no," he denied quickly. Too quickly.

Rose rolled her eyes, but let it go, instead bending to pick up the cookie sheet to deposit in the sink.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "So what do you say, Rose? Let me make everything up to you. The cookies and, well, the incident from before. Between the two of us we should get enough done in no time." He bounced up on his toes, awaiting her answer.

Biting her lip, Rose studied his hopeful face. As much as she would rather finish up herself and not have to deal with the strange mix of emotions that were rolling around in her stomach, she _had_ promised Clara that she would at least try. "Well, I suppose I could use the help since I'm behind now. As long as you promise not to catch the cookies on fire." She pointed a stern finger at him.

"You have my word," he said solemnly, crossing his heart.

She quickly directed him towards the dirty pans, which he began cleaning without complaint. Rose, meanwhile, began kneading another large batch of dough. They worked in silence for a few moments and Rose had just started to relax again, almost forgetting he was even there when he cleared his throat.

"So," he said, his voice a mixture of forced nonchalance and nerves. "Looking forward to the party tonight?"

"Umm, yeah," she stammered, focusing her eyes on working the dough into round snowman shapes with deft flicks of her wrist. She held her breath.

"Just think about it," he continued on enthusiastically, unaware of her rising distress. "Christmas music, tinsel everywhere, freshly baked cookies, and sparkly Santa hats as far as the eye can see. And dancing! Can't forget the dancing! I've even heard the reindeers are coming again this year!"

Rose couldn't help but snort. "I thought they refused to after what happened last time." She gave him a pointed look.

"That wasn't my fault!" the Doctor grumbled defensively. Rose found herself laughing despite herself and his face morphed into an affronted look.

"Those bells worked perfectly when I tested them, I'll have you know!" he continued, his voice straining.

"You know, Santa can't even get them to wear normal jingle bells now. Not after your electronic ones malfunctioned and about jingled them out of the sky during their performance. They were so disappointed, they'd been working for days to put that on for us."

The Doctor pouted and Rose raised an eyebrow as she stuck the next batch of cookies into the oven. When she looked back over at him he was still sulking, his eyes downcast and lower lip jutting out. It reminded her of the look he had given her this morning and where normally she wouldn't think anything of it, this time she felt her heart constricting.

He just looked so pitiful and Rose found herself taking pity on him. "How did you get them to come then? Go on and tell me." If anything could cheer the Doctor up it was a chance to tell one of his hair-brained schemes.

He sniffed. "Weeelll, I may have shared the location of my banana stash."

Rose put a hand over her heart, gasping dramatically. "I never thought I'd see the day."

The Doctor blushed all the way to his pointed ears. "Well, you know. Just wanted everything to be perfect for tonight."

The unexpected softness in his voice took Rose by surprise. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear shyly as the Doctor met her eyes with an intensity that left her reeling. Her heart was once more leaping around in her chest, her mouth going dry. She licked her lips.

"W-why's that then?"

But the Doctor didn't answer, instead his hand slowly came up to her face and then his thumb was moving down her cheek in a long sweeping motion. Rose flinched at the unexpected contact and immediately his hand dropped back down as if he'd been burnt. He gave her another sheepish smile.

"Sorry, just a bit of flour, right..." he motioned with his hand at his own cheek and Rose swiped the back of her hand roughly along the spot.

"Gone?" she asked, surprised by the way her voice was squeaking.

"Yep," he said softly. For a moment Rose met his eyes, a warm chocolate brown that reminded her of the melting chocolate chips in her cookies. She watched him lick his lips, watched the nervousness grow in his eyes and it was all too much. She finally identified the feeling growing inside her as the same one she'd been running from ever since she'd met him. Panic took over as the air was wrought with anticipation and she just knew that he was going to ask her...

"Rose, I-"

"C'mon then!" she interrupted quickly, turning away from him. "These cookies won't bake themselves!"

She heard him sigh despondently. "Right."

They worked for the rest of the time in silence and there was no denying that some unnameable tension was sitting between them now. And Rose could honestly say she was relieved when Donna came to fetch the Doctor some time later.

She ignored the look he sent her as he left.

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><p>Despite the promise she'd made to Clara, she found herself avoiding the Doctor for the rest of the day. She'd duck behind doorways, avoid his gaze, and circumnavigate the workshop in any way she could to avoid crossing his path. Anything to help her ignore the strange feeling that had taken up resident in her gut.<p>

Currently, she was hiding away in the storage room under the guise of untangling the rest of the Christmas lights. She'd been working for the past few hours now and around her sat row after row of unwound lights. Rose let out a breath and began wrapping the lights around her wrist in loops. There was no doubt that Clara would be down here dragging her out if Rose didn't show her face again soon. Standing, she turned around only to run smack dab into a solid presence.

A hand shot out to steady her and Rose focused her eyes up on the concerned face of none other than the Doctor. Her heart took off in her chest again and she couldn't stop the way her cheeks heated up. Her mouth opened and closed a few times and Rose wondered what in the world had her so damn flustered. This was Clara's fault. The woman had messed with her head and now she was losing it.

"Doctor!" she finally got her uncooperative mouth to say. "What brings you here?"

The Doctor's eyes darted around the room then back to her face. "Donna asked me to grab a few supplies from down here."

Rose nodded. "Ah."

An awkward silence descended and the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.

"Umm, anyway, you wouldn't happen to know where they keep the extra wrapping paper, do you?"

Rose looked around the room where practically all the boxes were filled to the brim with long cylindrical tubes of wrapping paper in all colors. The Doctor followed her gaze and she watched as realization dawned on features and a blush overtook his face. He coughed. "Oh."

He swiped one of the tubes from the closest box. She raised her eyebrows at this but said nothing. Then he gestured for her to walk through the door first, falling in step behind her. But as she turned to quickly make her way out, she shouldered right into the tube of wrapping paper in his hand knocking it from his grasp. It hit the ground with a soft clunk and rolled out in front of her.

Rose hastily picked it up from the ground and turned, standing up only to come face to face with the Doctor's chest. Her eyes slowly drifted up to meet his, the intensity of his gaze hitting her hard. A tiny, involuntary shudder went through her body.

"Rose?" the Doctor said concernedly, his hands coming up to lightly touch her shoulder. Instinctively, she took a step backwards, now standing perfectly underneath the doorway that led to the storage room. The Doctor took a step forward as well, following her movements.

"Are you-"

"Here," she interrupted quickly, shoving the wrapping paper that she still clutched towards him.

The Doctor took it from her hands. "Oh. Thanks."

"Now I should really be going," Rose stammered, her thumb gesturing behind her. They were still standing much too close and her insides were starting to jump around in a nervous manner.

She took another step out of the small doorway they'd found themselves in only for the Doctor's hand to find her shoulder and turn her back.

"Rose, wait. Have you...been avoiding me?"

"What. Psh no. Why-why would I do that?"

The Doctor shrugged, his eyes moving away from hers. "Well, I was sort of under the impression that you didn't like me very much."

"That's not true," Rose said quickly, surprised to find that she even meant it. The Doctor looked up at her, his eyes brightening.

Her lips quirked up in a soft smile. "Really though, I need to-"

"Wait. Just...one more thing." He looked determined and Rose felt all the breath leave her. Clara's words were still looping in her head to just give him a chance. She wiped sweaty palms against her jeans.

"I was actually wondering, if well..." His cheeks turned pink. "I was wondering if you would want to-"

Oh god. Oh god. No, no she couldn't do this. She just couldn't. It was all too much, too soon. Her body was a fit of nerves and uncertainty and she just, she needed some sort of distraction so she could find her footing again.

"Mistletoe!" she shouted, when she eyed the small plant hanging above them in the doorway. As soon as the word escaped her lips, however, she felt horror spike through her system. Of all the distractions, she'd picked _that_?

"W-what?"

Rose winced and reluctantly pointed upwards. "Just, just pointing out the mistletoe there. Odd spot for it, don't you think? On the door to the storage room. But, you know, very...festive?"

The Doctor's eyes glanced up, following her hand and she watched as a nervous, but excited smile lit up his face.

"It is rather...festive," he agreed. And was his tone...flirtatious? Rose gulped as she watched him lick his lips. Yup, definitely flirtatious. How the hell had she gotten herself into this? Her insides currently felt like mush and her heart was slamming in her chest so hard she thought it just might escape.

And when Rose's eyes focused back on the Doctor, they immediately widened as she realized how close he had gotten in the last few moments. His eyes were already closed and he was leaning forward and...and...

Panicking, Rose moved fast as lightening in order to place a swift kiss on his cheek. She felt the Doctor stiffen underneath the touch and when she pulled back, there was no mistaking the disappointment in his eyes. He swallowed hard, one hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck.

"Well, I should be-"

"Donna's waiting so-"

After nodding at one another awkwardly, they both turned and fled in opposite directions.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Part 2<strong>

"You did _what_?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Rose asked. "I panicked!"

"I never took you for a coward."

Rose flinched. Clara sighed and put a comforting arm around her.

"What are you so scared of?" she asked.

"I-I don't know. But ever since you told me that the Doctor fancies me I haven't felt like myself."

Clara nudged her shoulder. "Could it maybe be that you're finally starting to admit to yourself that you might just fancy him back."

Rose shook her head. "Can't be. It's...I mean sure he's handsome, I suppose. And rather brilliant, despite the way he blows everything up," Rose's lips quirked up in a fond grin. "Sweet, too. Oooh and charming. And when he wears those glasses I-"

Rose snapped her mouth shut quickly at the smirk growing on Clara's face. The brunette pointed a triumphant finger at her. "You do like him!"

Rose groaned and dropped her head to her hands. "Oh god, what am I supposed to do with _that_?"

"Duh," Clara said, shaking her shoulder, "You go to the party with him."

"If he even asks me," Rose sighed. "I've not been very kind to him, have I? Giving him all these mixed signals and all."

"Well, then you ask him!"

Rose blanched. "No, I couldn't I-"

"Go on, Rose! It's almost Christmas after all. Make all his wishes come true," she said, clasping her hands together with a happy sigh.

Rose turned red. "_Clara!_"

Just then a tap came to her shoulder and at the way Clara had gone strangely silent, Rose slowly turned around fully expecting to come face to face with the Doctor (He'd been popping up everywhere she was). But Rose was shocked when she was instead met with the sight of green eyes and red hair.

"Donna?" she stammered, nervously smoothing out her hair. The older woman was in charge of overseeing the making of the toys every year and everyone knew not to cross her path this close to Christmas (Everyone except the Doctor that is, but the older woman had a certain...fondness for him). "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Clara slowly backing away. The traitor.

"As a matter of fact, you can." Her voice was not unkind and Rose relaxed fractionally until, that is, she said, "It's the Doctor."

Rose's muscles immediately tensed up again. "W-what about him?"

"Christmas Eve is tomorrow and were already behind schedule and he bloody refuses to leave his home! If we want to finish this year, and oh how I hate to say this, but we're going to need him."

Rose licked her lips. "And, umm, what do you expect _me_ to do about it?"

"Listen," Donna said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm desperate here. All I'm asking is you go talk to him. Santa knows that he lights up like a Christmas tree whenever he's around you."

Rose swallowed hard. "I suppose-"

"Great! If you could send him my way..."

"On it," she said with more confidence then she felt.

The Doctor's home stood out like a sore thumb in the residential area of the workshop. She tentatively touched the old, blue wood of the police box, feeling it hum underneath her fingertips as if it was alive. She smiled a little. Then, screwing up all the courage she could muster, Rose knocked. Nobody answered.

"Doctor?"

Still, there was no response, so Rose reached for the handle and slowly opened the door, surprised when the wood gave way under her touch.

She found the Doctor slumped against a work table, his hair a riot around his pointed ears as if he'd been running his hands through it. His chin rested on one hand and yet another odd looking contraption was sitting before him.

"Good going, Doctor," he grumbled to himself, letting a hand pull roughly at brown locks of hair. "Way to blow it. First, you-"

"Doctor," Rose interrupted quickly. Listening to him beat himself up was making her heart hurt.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, quickly standing and knocking the chair over in his haste. His eyes darted around the room wildly, at the unmade bed and the floor littered with wires and various design ideas, the snowflake machine sitting haphazardly in the corner (with her shoe still jammed inside), until finally they landed on her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, rather bluntly and then winced. "Sorry that was rude. Of course you're welcome here any time." This was said rather earnestly, and at Rose's raised eyebrow, he spluttered, the implications of his sentence dawning on him. "I just- I mean- Oh no, I'm mucking this up again." He hung his head miserably.

"I know what you meant," she assured him, giggling a bit to let him know she wasn't angry.

At the sound of her laugh, the Doctor brightened up immensely. "Well then, what brings you to my humble abode, Rose Tyler?"

Rose let her eyes travel around the sparse furnishings and wild array of trinkets and various contraptions, noting that the space looked so much bigger than it did on the outside. "How did you get this all to fit in here?" she wondered.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, umm...How does Santa fit all those presents on his sleigh, eh?"

At her confused look, he grimaced a bit. "I may have, well, _borrowed_ that technology to do this." He gave her a look that reminded her of a boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "And technically I developed it, so really I had every right to use it!"

And where normally Rose would roll her eyes at him, she found her lips quirking up despite herself at the picture he presented. Pointed ears turning red, spiked hair surrounding his handsome face. And all wrapped up in his tight brown pinstriped suit with the alternating red and green stripes.

When he chanced a peek up at her to gauge her expression, she watched him do a double take before he was smiling just as widely as her. A charming crooked thing that made her heart flutter.

"That's actually rather brilliant," she said after a moment, surprising even herself. The Doctor practically preened.

Rose continued smiling and took another step into his home, taking in the Christmas lights that hung around the edges making the room glow softly. The Doctor gulped as she got closer.

"So, umm, got a bit off track there," he said, Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Was there something that you wanted?" His eyes suddenly went very wide. "Did Donna send you to find me. Oh dear, she's going to kill me isn't she? I better-" He was heading for the door at a rapid pace.

"Wait, Doctor." The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

The Doctor turned around on his heel. Eyes falling on her curiously with just the smallest hint of confusion lurking in their depths. "Is there something wrong, Rose? You're acting-"

"What is this?" she interrupted quickly, turning around to hold up the contraption he'd been messing with a moment ago, so that he wouldn't see the heat staining her cheeks. Buying time.

The Doctor was by her side in an instant plucking it out of her hands. "Oh n-nothing. Nothing at all. Just something I've been messing with. Anyway, I should really be-"

"You should come to the Christmas celebration with me tonight."

The Doctor blanched and his jaw dropped open. She saw the strange contraption slip from his hands in his shock and she quickly caught it, setting it back down on his workbench. When she met his eyes again, he was still gaping at her. Rose smiled gently even as her stomach was a riot of nerves and confusion. She hadn't intended to ask him, but it had just sort of...popped out. And she found she felt lighter for it, the tightness in her chest loosening and her body relaxing as she smiled softly at the flustered man in front of her.

A few moments passed, however, with no evidence that the Doctor was even breathing anymore. She waved her hand in front of his face and then gripped his shoulder when he still didn't respond. "Doctor? Doctor? Did you hear me?"

Then suddenly he burst to life under her fingertips. "Yes!" he said, jumping up. "Yes, yes, yes." His hands came up to ruffle his hair and he was bouncing around the room, eyes darting everywhere. "Oh there's so much to do! So much I have to-" His eyes landed back on her and suddenly he was ushering her out of the room. "Off you pop, Rose Tyler. There's still so much to do!"

"But Donna-"

"Tell Donna that I'll make everything up to her later!"

Then the door closed behind her.

"Nutter," Rose muttered under her breath, the same way she had done numerous times before.

But she smiled as she said it.

A few hours later found Rose Tyler munching forlornly on a Christmas cookie as music thumped around her. Everyone around her was giggling and laughing, shimmying this way and that to the tune of _Jingle Bell Rock. _She spied a flash of brown hair in the crowd and she smiled a bit as she watched Clara dancing in the arms of one Danny Pink. Off to the right she saw that Amy had a flustered looking Rory pressed against a nearby wall underneath the mistletoe. Martha and Mickey were offering one another small bites of candy. Even Donna was there, smiling and chatting with the timid Lee.

But the Doctor was nowhere in sight.

Rose took a vicious bite of her cookie, the head of the snowman crunching satisfyingly between her teeth. She told herself that it didn't matter, that she'd always known he was a git and that she should have expected something like this, but she still couldn't quite shake her disappointment.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"Jack!"

Rose turned to meet the deep blue eyes and dazzling smile of her friend. He eyed her appreciatively, whistling.

"Now why are you sitting all by yourself over here wearing something like that?" Jack asked as he gently touched her shoulder, his eyes sweeping down her frame so he could get the full view of her tight, sparkly dress and tights.

Rose blushed, the red in her cheeks complementing the color of the dress. The first genuine smile since she'd arrived broke across her face and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Oh you know," she said, tongue finding it's way between her teeth as she shrugged. Jack raised his eyebrow at the evasiveness of her answer, but simply shrugged it off after a moment.

"Well it must be said, my lady, that this looks like a dancing dress. So let's dance." He stood up and held out a hand for her, and she placed hers in his happily.

She certainly didn't need the Doctor to have a good time, Rose thought, as her hands found Jack's shoulders and his went to her waist. He spun her around the room and she laughed giddily as her hair fanned out behind her. Jack was as much the charming gentlemen as ever and his stories had her collapsing against his frame in giggles. It wasn't long before there steps were getting sloppier and his hands began roaming a bit more than they had been before.

However, even as she laughed and danced the night away, she couldn't stop herself from thinking of the Doctor and how he'd blown her off after she'd thought that he, well-

"Well, well, well," she heard Jack murmur in her ear and she jumped slightly as she broke from her thoughts. She looked into his mischievous, dancing eyes.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Seems we found ourselves under the mistletoe," he said in a sing-song voice. Rose's eyes went wide and for just a moment her mind flashed back to when she'd been underneath one earlier with the Doctor, her mind conjuring up the image of what it would have been like if she'd allowed him to really kiss her...

"You know what that means," Jack said.

Everything happened in slow motion from there:

Jack leaning forward. Her eyes catching sight of the Doctor up ahead with a box wrapped in silver paper with a neat little red bow sitting on top. His eyes finding hers from across the room and a wide, beaming smile lighting up his whole face. The twist of his eyebrows and the small frown a moment later when he took in Jack's arms wrapped around her and his face moving towards hers. Jack's lips dropping a chaste, innocent kiss on her mouth. The Doctor's face falling, his eyes sliding away from hers. The present slipping from his fingers and onto the ground. The white noise that entered her head as she watched him turn on his heel and walk back the way he had come.

She blinked and everything sped back up again, the dancing bodies, the loud beat of the music pulsing in her bones, the laughter and merriment around her.

"Rose? Rose? Rose, can you hear me?"

She shook her head and focused her eyes back on Jack's concerned face. He gave a small, sheepish laugh when she met his eyes.

"I'm sorry if that was out of line, sweetheart. I only meant it to be friendly. Tradition, you know?"

"No, no, it's okay," she reassured him quickly, biting her lips. "But I-I need to go."

"Rose?"

"I'm sorry Jack. I've had a lovely time. Thank you. But there's something I need to go do."

She leaned up and swiftly kissed his cheek before getting lost in the throng of gyrating bodies. She hurried to the spot she'd seen him, picking up the abandoned gift with a heavy heart. There was a small card attached that said _Merry Christmas, Rose. _

Her eyes darted around, but he was nowhere in sight.

She spent the next half hour looking for him, clutching the present tightly in her hand as she checked his blue box, his workbench, and even the party again. She was wandering one of the cavernous hallways now, a sense of hopelessness slowly overcoming her when she ran right into something large and fluffy. She backed up quickly, spitting white fuzz out of her mouth as her eyes came to land on Santa Claus himself.

"Oh," she squeaked. "I'm so sorry!"

And then the breath left her lungs as it donned on her. Santa Claus, standing right in front of her. That...that did not just happen. Santa never made an appearance before Christmas Eve. Not ever.

"No worries, my dear!" he said with kind eyes. "Now why aren't you with the others enjoying the festivities?"

Rose couldn't helping but stammer as she stared at his round, rosy cheeks. "I, umm, I'm not really feeling up to it."

"Now, now Rose Tyler, you know that lying will get you onto the naughty list," he admonished her and shame joined the guilt that was churning in her belly.

"I'm sorry, M-Mr. Claus. I just- I think I may have hurt a...a friend of mine and I was trying to find him."

"Ahhh." Santa nodded his head, the red hat sitting on top of his head tilting dangerously to the side. His eyes held understanding. "This...friend of yours wouldn't happen to be our very own troublesome Doctor now would it?"

Rose's eyes widened and she felt a blush spreading across her cheeks. Santa gave her a knowing look. "Well...yeah-"

"Because," Santa interrupted, leaning forward so he could whisper conspiratorially, "I just so happen to have seen him sitting outside on the hill overlooking the village not ten minutes ago."

At this, Rose felt her heart beat pick up pace in her chest. "Really?"

Santa smiled warmly. "You best be getting out there...Oh and before I forget you'll be needing this..." It seemed almost out of nowhere that he pulled out her warm, fur-lined coat and handed it to her. Rose smiled gratefully, wrapping herself up before hurriedly heading out the door with the present still clutched tightly in her hands.

At the last moment, she skidded to a stop. "Wait, Santa, can I ask why you're here so-"

But when she turned to look at him, he had already disappeared.

The snow was falling harder now and the light was beginning to dim as Rose made her trek towards the hill she could see in the distance. She clutched her jacket tightly around herself, walking as quickly as she could towards the dim outline that was just beginning to appear up ahead.

Her feet crunched in the snow by his still form and Rose swallowed as she carefully dropped down beside him on the blanket he had lain out. Another was thrown across his lap.

"'S beautiful," she said after a moment, eyes focused on the bright Christmas lights coming from the cottages and log buildings below.

He didn't answer for an agonizing moment, but finally she heard him whisper a quiet 'yeah' in response. Her heart tightened and she fingered the small card attached to the wrapped gift in her hand.

"I didn't get you anything, you know," she murmured. At this the Doctor finally turned to face her.

"What?"

Rose shrugged, feeling daft. "I didn't get you anything," she repeated, lifting the gift up for him to see.

The Doctor's brows furrowed. "I didn't expect you to."

Now it was Rose's turn to look confused. "Why not?" she asked.

He looked away from her and shrugged. "Well, you know." He clasped his hands together and rested them on his bent knees. "I thought you wanting to go to the party with me was gift enough. A right Christmas miracle." He laughed a little, but the sound was self-deprecating and it twisted in Rose's stomach. She suddenly felt very angry.

"Yeah," she said, her voice hard. "And who was it that ended up standing me up for half the party?"

His eyes which had studiously been studying the ground, suddenly jumped up to her face in surprise. "What?"

"I was sitting there by myself like a right plonker while everyone else was having fun because you didn't show!"

"Oh you looked like you were having plenty of fun to me," the Doctor replied bitterly.

"No, no you don't get to-"

But she was cut off by the sudden quiet sound of singing from below. A soft rendition of _Silent Night _that carried on the wind up to there little perch on the hilltop. The tension in Rose's body suddenly dissipated as if carried away by the wind as well.

"I really don't want to fight," she said after a moment, grabbing the Doctor's hand and holding it between hers.

"Me neither."

They both went silent, lost for a moment in the haunting melody coming from below. The Doctor scooted the blanket over so that it laid across both their laps.

"I was trying to finish your gift."

Rose turned to look at him. "What?"

"The reason I was so late...I was trying to get it to work properly." He shrugged. "You know how I am. Didn't want to ruin the surprise by having it...blow up or something." Rose felt her mouth quirk up despite herself. "Anyway, I didn't realize I was so late. Suppose I lost track of time."

"You missed over half the party."

"I know," The Doctor said, letting out a long breath. "I'm very sorry."

"It's why I was dancing with Jack, you know. He's my friend and he was just looking out for me."

The Doctor licked his lips before asking, rather nervously, "So you two aren't...?"

Rose laughed. "Oh no. Not at all. Jack's just a mate."

She watched as he pursed his lips contemplatively. "So why did he kiss you?"

"Ahh. Just following tradition. Mistletoe," she elaborated at his confused look. "He was just giving me a friendly peck. Nothing more."

"Oh."

She squeezed his hand.

"You know, despite my best efforts I kept thinking about you while I was dancing with Jack."

"Did you now?" he asked, and she could detect a hint of satisfaction in his tone.

Rose laughed, poking him in the side. "Yeah, not quite sure what you did to me. A Christmas miracle, you said?"

The Doctor sniffed, adjusting his tie. "Or maybe you just finally realized how incredibly handsome and charming I am."

"Hmm," Rose said, touching her hand contemplatively to her chin. "Nah, I still think it's the Christmas magic. In a few days I'll be back to my normal self again."

The Doctor's eyes widened at this. "Oh I certainly hope not, but if so I better make the most of it, hmm?"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Rose asked, her voice dropping in pitch as she leaned in closer. She saw the Doctor's eyes drop to her mouth.

"Well first," he said, his voice pitched just as low. "I'll have you open that present over there."

Rose blinked and reeled back a bit. "What?"

The Doctor laughed. "The Christmas present!" he said, voice cheerful. "It's caused all this trouble, so you better go on and see if it was worth it."

His joy was infectious and Rose found herself smiling back. "Alright then, let's tear this open."

Rose eagerly tugged at the wrapping paper and ripped open the box. Then with furrowed brows she pulled out the contraption that was sitting inside.

"This was that thing sitting on your desk when I came by earlier."

"Not a _thing_ I'll have you know, Rose Tyler! Wait until you see what this baby can do."

The Doctor tugged at the blanket in their laps and he threw it over their heads so that everything went dark. Rose inhaled sharply in surprise. Then the Doctor was plucking the odd contraption from her hand. She heard him fiddle with it for a moment before grunting with triumph.

And then suddenly there little make-shift cove was a-washed in a soft glow as tiny pinpricks of light spread out along the top of the blanket covering their heads. Rose gasped in surprise.

"Bit hard to see in here, but well, it's the constellations," the Doctor explained quietly. She heard him fiddle with something again and then suddenly the image changed, the pinpricks of light rearranging before her eyes. "Different views," he continued his explanation. "From all over the world. I remember you saying last year that what you wanted for Christmas was to travel and see the stars so I thought-" he trailed off nervously.

Rose felt tears gathering in her eyes. "Doctor, this is..." There were no words.

"You don't like it," he said forlornly.

"I _love_ it," she assured him. She moved to wrap her arms around his neck, her face pressing into his shoulder. She was sitting in his lap now and she made no move to get up as he moved to wrap the blanket around them, setting her gift off to the side so they could enjoy the sight of the real stars shining above them. "I just wish I had something to give you," Rose breathed against his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her tighter as he breathed out, "This is quite enough."

Rose snuggled closer to his embrace, her hands finding their way into her jacket pockets as she leaned back against him contentedly, only to feel something in her pocket. She felt herself grin and quickly turned around in the Doctor's embrace so that she was facing him. He floundered at her sudden movement, his hands finally settling on her waist after a moment.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?" he squeaked.

"Do you remember when you tried to kiss me? Before in the storage room."

The Doctor blushed. "I...yes," he said, his voice straining. His eyes darted to her lips again.

Rose grinned mischievously, pulling the small clump of twigs and berries from her pocket. "What do you say we try again?"

The Doctor smiled nervously back, his thumb tracing small circles on her waist. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Rose breathed against his lips. "Merry Christmas, Doctor."

And with that she kissed him.


End file.
